Automatic sprinkler head



Oct. 17, 1950 c, ROWLEY 2,526,159

AUTOMATIC SPRINKLER HEAD 2 Sheefs-Sheet 1' Filed June17, 1948 Oct. 1'7,- 1950 A. c. ROWLEY' 1. 2,526,159

- AUTOMATIC SPRINKLER HEAD Filed June 17, 1948 2 Sheets-Shet 2 Patented-Oct. 17, 1 950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFlCE-,1....-.;A}

AUTOMATIC SPRINKLER HEAD Arthur C. Rowley, Drexel Hill, Pa., assignor to Globe Automatic Sprinkler Company, Philadelphia, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application June 17,1948, Serial'No. 32,450 A 2 Claims. (01. l69.-38)

Thisinvention relates to improvementsin-tauto- \matic sprinkler heads and is a continuation-inpart of my copending application Serial Number 663,534, filed April .19, 19.46, now abandoned.

The primary object of the present invention is to provide a sprinkler head having relatively simple and effective heatsensitive means for nor- .mally retaining the head-sealed, the invention the spr nk er head shown in Fig.4;

Fig. 6 is a sectional view on the line 6+6 4; and- Figs.

'diately preceding figures. i With' reference to Figs l, 2 and Set the drawings, the sprinkler head as therein illustrated comprises a hollow body member I having a generally cylindrical inner wall surface 2 a tangentially directed intake port 3 at one-end, and an axially directed discharge port ll at the other end.

The intake port 3 is by way of a transverse tubular extension 5 which is provided at the end with external threads 6 for attachment of the sprinkler head in thesprink-ler system, said system or 7 and 8 are views in perspective@of-';-sepa-. rateelements of the device shown inthe'imme' aside ,elevational-zview, partly in seo tion, of a modified form of sprinkler head-with .Zq

-wii l3. of the extension H. In thepresent instance the extension! I is formedlby a separately formed conical-member which is threaded into thebase portion of the head member as "illustratedfl-in With the arrangement'described above; water admitted under pressure to the-interior of the member I throughthe intake 3 will, by reason of the tangentialarrangement, of this intake; port, set up a vortical jflow 'ofwater in the annular chamber around the extension H.- The vertical movement of'the liquid :is maintained through out the passage to the discharge portd. The re;-

striction formed bythe head portion l-3"of. the extension ll 'causes .the Water to discharge through the ports 1'4 and to form high velocity jets which intersect the: discharge port '4 at points adj oiningthe-prsriphery thereof, and in the area where the flow of waterthrough-Qthe {port isconcentrated by vreason of the 'eentrifu-galefi-y fe'ct'o-f the vertical? action referredto abovew .1?

. The .discharge port 4 is normally closed b'y-a' closure-element l8 in the form of a disk having a rounded side" l9 which is adapted to-seat in the discharge-port l .A rounded gasket-2|, of soft copper or the like is preferably provided fo'rfih V terposition between the seatand thexelle'ment f8 and functions in-;wellknown "manner .Zto efiect efficient sealingof-thedischarge pOlllu z E 1 In order 'to maintain the closure element 'ifi normally in the closing position, a lever 22 ispro vided'having, a hooked extremity 23 the end 101i which engages in a recess 24 in the head member immediatelyadjoiningpart thereof heing indicated in broken lines and designated "by the ref-' erence numeral 1. Adjoining the threaded extremity the extension 5 is provided with a hexag onal portion 8 for reception of a wrench. It is to be noted that the passage 9 through the ex-' tension 5, which terminates in the intake port 3, is conical in form and tapers toward the said intake port. A

In the interior of the head I' is a conical e'x tension Hj having its base 'l2 at the intake end of the head member, said extension extending axially toward the discharge port 4. The outer terminal end of the extension H is formed with a radially extended head 13, and this head is provided with a pluralit of ports M which are directed toward the port'll and whose longitudinal axes, if extended would'intersect the port at points adjoining the periphery of the latter. The extension l I forms in the. interior of the head member an annular chamber which terminates in a restriction formed by the radiallyexteridedhwd .I at one side'of the discharge opening. that end of the lever being thereby detachably interlocked with the'said member. In assembly the lever -ex-' tends across and substantially parallel .to" the plane of the opening 4 so that the tipend of a screw '20 threaded into said lever may engage-in a suitable recess $5 in the upper surface of the element 4 8 whereby the said lever may function to hold the closure elementitoits seat. The outer endqof the :lever 2-2 isengaged bya thermo-isensi tive-rlink' 25, said link being of known-character,

' including two plate-likeelements26 and 21- :re.-.

at the opposite end with an aperture-for reception of the hooked end '3! of an arm 32, theother end 33 of which is inserted in arr-aperture the base end of the element H as illustrated-in Fig. 3. The arm 32 thus functions to anchor, the

link 25 to the head member whereby. the;:;linl mayfunction to retain the arm 22 in the position shown in Figs. 1 and 2 to retain. the closure elee.

ment [8 in operative position closing the port 4- The screw 20 affords'a means for regulating the pressure exerted through the side lever upon the closure element.

In operation excessive heat in the area of the sprinkler head will cause fusion'of the solder 28 and a resulting release of the elements 26 and 21 of the link 25. Pressure of the liquid within the sprinkler system then acts to force the closure element I8 and washer 2| away from the port with the lever 22 pivoting around the hooked end 23 in the recess 24 as illustrated in Fig. 3. Separation of the lever 22 from the head will permit discharge of the water in an atomized pattern.

The embodiment of the invention shown in Figs. to 8 inclusive is in essential respects similar to that described above. In this case, however, thehollow body of the sprinkler head is of generally spherical form and the correspondingly shaped interior chamber 36 is provided with a central positioned stem or extension 31 which extends from the bottom of the chamber toward the discharge opening 38. The extension 31 is recessed from its outer end, as indicated at 39, this recess being frusto-conical in form with the wall thereof converging towards the bottom. The l recess 39 communicates at the bottom with four passages 4| which enter the sides of the extension 3! below a shoulder 42 and extend diagonally upward to the bottom of the recess 39.

Extending upwardly through said recess is a 1 cylindrical pin 43 having-a rounded tip 44 which projects somewhat' beyond the terminal end of the recess 39 toward the discharge opening 38.

The discharge opening 38 is normally sealed by a closure disk 45 and associated gasket 46. The disk is normally held to its seat at the outer end of the discharge port by means of a compound lever 41 consisting of the two primary parts shown in Figs. 7 and 8 respectively; The part 48, shown in Fig. 7, has a hooked end'49 which engages under the rim of a projecting flange 5| on the body 35 of the sprinkler head surrounding the discharge opening 38. The end edge of the portion 49 is concaved and curved as indicated at 52 so as to conform to the contour of the body member 35 immediately below the flange 5!. The manner in which this member 48 engages the body 35 of the sprinkler head is best shown in Fig. 4. The other extremity of the member 48 is provided at the inner side with transversely spaced sockets 53, 53 which lie one on each side of a central recess 54 in the end edge of the member.

The member 55 shown in Fig. 8 is in the form of a simple lever having at one end a centrally located set screw 56. In assembly this set screw seats upon a spherical e ement 51 which in turn seats in a socket 58 at the center of the closure disk 45. and the lower terminal end of the set screw 56 is recessed to form a concave seat for the sphere 51. As best shown in Fig. 6 the set screw 56 is threaded into a bushing 59 in the lever 55. At each side of the bushing 59 the member 55 is provided with sockets 6|, 61 which, in assembly, register or confront the sockets 53 in the member 48 and these sockets receive spherical elements 62, 62 as shown in Figs. 4 and 6. The recess 54 affords clearance for the set screw 56. The opposite end of the member 55 is provided with an upturned hook-like extremity 63 which engages in an aperture 64 in a fusible link 65, the other end of the link being anchored to a hooked arm 66 which extends from the side of the body member 35.

In assembly the lever member 55 is in e fe fulcrumed on the spherical element 51, the outer end of the lever being held down by the link 65 so that the other short end of the lever is pressed forcibly against the under side of the member 48 through the intervening spherical elements 62. Adjustment of the set screw 56 gives the desired tension in the elements. Since the lever 55 reacts with the spherical element 51 it exerts downward pressure upon the closure disk 45 holding the disk securely in the port sealing position as shown in the drawings. Fusion of the link 65 releases the lever 55 so that it, together with the member or reactance link 48 falls awa freely to release the disk 45 and to permit the pressure inside the sprinkler to displace the disk and to uncover the discharge port 38. Water from the system then discharges from the port 38 directly from the chamber 36 and also with jet action through the passages 4| and recess 39 so as to form a highlyatomized discharge.

It is to be understood that the device is subject to further modification in detail without departure from the invention as defined in the ap-' extending transversely across the discharge port form of a lever member carrying the adjustable closure-engaging element and fulcrumed'through said element upon the closure element, and a reaction link constituting the other part of the lever and having one end interlocked with the head member, one end of said lever member being held by the heat-fusible means and the other end reacting with said link to hold the ad-- justable eement forcibly against the closure.

2. A sprinkler according to claim 1 wherein the lever member is interlocked with the reaction link by way of a plurality of spherical elements seated loosely in recesses in the confronting faces of said member and link.

ARTHUR. C. ROW'LEY.

REFERENCES CITED I The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Num er Name Date 489,342 Stratton Jan. 3, 1893 490,821 Brown Jan. 31, 1893 2,247,897 Wahlin July 1, 1941 2,358,177 Madison Sept. 12, 1944 2,404,804 Lee July 30, 1946 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 3,683 great Britain M r 8 

